Unravelling the complexity of the relationship between social support sources and loneliness: A mixed-methods study with older adults.

Loneliness is an increasingly significant social and public health issue in contemporary societies. The available evidence suggests that social support is one of the key psychosocial processes for the reduction and prevention of loneliness. This study investigated the role played by sources of social support in the experience of social and emotional loneliness, identifying seven sources of support split between family (spouse/partner, children, grandchildren, siblings) and non-family (friends, neighbours).

[Prevalence of loneliness among older people living in rural areas. Differences by ethnic group and predictor variables].

Background: Loneliness is one of the most recurrent public health problems in older people. However, there is little data available in Chile on its prevalence in people over 60 years of age living in rural areas and belonging to native or Afro-descendant groups.

Aim: To examine the prevalence of loneliness among older people living in rural areas by ethnic group and to analyze the socio-demographic, family, and health variables related to loneliness.

Socioeconomic status, loneliness, and depression among older adults: a cross-sectional study in Spain.

Background: The association between socioeconomic status and depression is weaker in older adults than in younger populations. Loneliness may play a significant role in this relationship, explaining (at least partially) the attenuation of the social gradient in depression. The current study examined the relationship between socioeconomic status and depression and whether the association was affected by loneliness.

The Relationship between Subjective Aging and Cognition in Elderly People: A Systematic Review.

There is a growing body of evidence on the effects of subjective aging on health, well-being and quality of life. This review aims to synthesize findings about the link between subjective aging and cognition and cognitive decline. Furthermore, it provides an examination of variation sources such as subjective aging construct, cognitive domains, measures employed, age and moderator variables.

A systematic review of ageing in place among Indigenous People in Canada, USA, México, Chile and New Zealand.

The ageing in place (AIP) model enjoys widespread recognition in gerontology and has been strongly encouraged through social policy. However, progress remains to be made in terms of analysing AIP for minority groups and groups with diverse life pathways in old age. This systematic review aims to identify studies that address the AIP model in indigenous communities, answering the following questions: In which geographical contexts and for which Indigenous Peoples have AIP been researched? Which physical dimensions are considered in the assessment of AIP? Which social dimensions are considered in the assessment of AIP? This systematic review applied the SALSA (Search, Appraisal, Synthesis and Analysis) method to AIP among Indigenous older adults on the Web of Science, PsycINFO, MEDLINE and Scopus digital platforms for publications from 2011 to 2021.

Loneliness among Chilean indigenous women: Family, community, and socio-cultural integration as protective factors.

This study examined the incidence of loneliness among Chilean indigenous older adult women (106 Aymara and 180 Mapuche) and how family, community and socio-cultural integration are associated with lower levels of loneliness. A cross-sectional study involving 800 older adults living in a rural context in Chile, of whom 35.8% were indigenous women.

[Studying loneliness and social support networks among older people: a systematic review in Europe.].

Objective: During the ageing process the loss of family and social relationships is frequent which conditions loneliness, similarly the current COVID-19 pandemic has generated more social limitations in this age group and has increased the risk factors to trigger feelings of loneliness. This paper aimed to examine how loneliness among older people had been studied in Europe over the last ten years. Specific objectives were: i) to describe the methodological aspects; ii) to identify the scales or questions for the assessment of loneliness; iii) what were the main variables or dimensions that were related to loneliness in old age.

Ageing in Context: An Ecological Model to Understand Social Participation Among Indigenous Adults in Chile.

The social participation of older adults occupies a central position in international discourse regarding ageing, the ecological model makes it possible to examine and assess the different factors that influence the understanding of what encourages social participation by older adults. This study used the ecological model to analyse how personal, community and environmental factors are related to satisfaction with social participation among Chilean older adults, a majority of whom are indigenous, living in rural areas ( = 800). The results confirmed that satisfaction with social participation was related to personal factors (feelings of depression, functioning into basic activities of daily living (ADL) and autonomy), community factors (perceived social support from social group) and environmental factors (accessibility of physical setting within the village).

[Effect of guardianship on the quality of life of people with disabilities in Spain.].

Objective: Despite the unquestionable progress in the treatment and legal and social recognition of persons with disabilities with modified capacity,the role and social position of the collective still hinders the development of a full life. The objective was to know the possible effect of the guardianship exercise on the quality of life of persons with disabilities who reside permanently in residential centres and whose ordinary guardianship falls to the public FASAD Foundation.

Methods: Correlational quantitative study.

Validation of the De Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale, 6-item version, in a multiethnic population of Chilean older adults.

Objective: To analyse the psychometric properties of the De Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale, 6-item version (DJGLS-6), in a multiethnic sample of older Chilean adults.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was designed using a sample of 800 older people, and 71% were self-declared indigenous. Data quality and acceptability, internal consistency, and construct and structural validity of DJGLS-6 were analysed.

Multi-ethnic validation of 15-item Geriatric Depression Scale in Chile.

Background: There has been scant research published regarding the assessment of depression in ethnic groups, and few studies have addressed the validation of scales for standardized assessment of depressive symptoms among indigenous minorities.

Objective: The aim of this study was to analyze the psychometric properties of the 15-item Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-15) for a multi-ethnic sample of older Chilean adults.

Methods: Cross-sectional study with a sample of 800 older people, 71% of whom were self-declared indigenous (Aymara/Mapuche).

[Psychometric properties of APGAR-family scale in a multiethnic sample of Chilean older people].

Background: The APGAR-family scale is used for the assessment of family functioning in primary health care.

Aim: To examine the psychometric properties of the family functioning scale APGAR-family, in a multi-ethnic sample of older Chilean adults.

Material And Methods: The scale was applied to 800 participants aged more than 60 years, residing in rural areas of the regions of Arica and Parinacota and La Araucanía.

Family and community support among older Chilean adults: the importance of heterogeneous social support sources for quality of life.

Family and community social networks act as social resources that promote well-being at advanced ages. In this study, we analyze the association between social support received from personal social networks (social support from various family members and friends) and community social networks (social support from neighbors and the neighborhood, age, ethnic, or religious group peers and formal social support networks) and quality of life (QoL) for a sample of older Chilean persons (n = 777). The results confirm that social support from family (partner, children, and extended family) and friends, integration in the community (neighbors) and social support from informal systems (social groups) are associated with QoL.

[Validation of the successful aging inventory in chilean older people].

Background: There is a paucity of adequate and validated instruments for the measurement of successful aging for geriatric researchers in Chile.

Aim: To validate the “Successful Aging Inventory” (SAI) in Chilean older people.

Material And Methods: SAI was answered by 777 older people aged 70 ± 7 years (63% women) living in urban and rural areas, including the highlands of a Northern desert region of Chile.

Ethnicity, Social Support, and Depression Among Elderly Chilean People.

Recent evidence regarding the relationship between social support and depression in elderly people shows the important role of ethnicity. This research describes the characteristics of social support in a sample of elderly people aged 60 and above living in northern Chile (n = 493), and analyzes the differences in the relationship between social support and depression between an indigenous group (Aymara population, n = 147) and a nonindigenous group (white, Caucasian, mestizo, n = 346). Various dimensions of social support were considered: structural elements, functional social support according to source, and community participation.